diff --git a/.DS_Store b/.DS_Store
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..af48d0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.DS_Store
Binary files differ
diff --git a/docs/source/conf.py b/docs/source/conf.py
index cbcb864..0d87655 100644
--- a/docs/source/conf.py
+++ b/docs/source/conf.py
@@ -52,9 +52,9 @@
 # built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = '0.8'
+version = '0.9'
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = '0.8.3'
+release = '0.9.2'
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
diff --git a/docs/source/predictionio.rst b/docs/source/predictionio.rst
index 265ff51..99ecbeb 100644
--- a/docs/source/predictionio.rst
+++ b/docs/source/predictionio.rst
@@ -3,15 +3,18 @@
 
 .. automodule:: predictionio
 
-The SDK comprises of two clients: 
+The SDK comprises of two clients:
 
-1. EventClient, it is for importing data into the PredictionIO platform. 
+1. EventClient, it is for importing data into the PredictionIO platform.
 2. EngineClient, it is for querying PredictionIO Engine Instance, submit query
    and extract prediction results.
 
-Please read `PredictionIO Quick Start
-<http://docs.prediction.io/0.8.3/recommendation/quickstart.html>`_ for
-detailed explanation.
+The SDK also provides a FileExporter for you to write events to a JSON file
+in the same way as EventClient. The JSON file can be used by "pio import"
+for batch data import.
+
+Please read `PredictionIO Event API <http://docs.prediction.io/datacollection/eventapi/>`_ for explanation of
+how SDK can be used to import events.
 
 predictionio.EventClient Class
 ------------------------------
@@ -38,7 +41,7 @@
     handling concurrent requests (although setting "threads" to 1 will still
     work). The optimal setting depends on your system and application
     requirement.
-   
+
 
 predictionio.EngineClient Class
 ------------------------------
@@ -46,12 +49,21 @@
 .. autoclass:: EngineClient
    :members:
 
+
 predictionio.AsyncRequest Class
 ------------------------------
 
 .. autoclass:: AsyncRequest
    :members:
 
+predictionio.FileExporter Class
+-------------------------------
+
+.. versionadded:: 0.9.2
+.. autoclass:: FileExporter
+   :members:
+
+
 predictionio SDK Usage Notes
 -------------------------
 
@@ -78,8 +90,7 @@
    In some cases you may not care whether the request is successful for performance or application-specific reasons, then you can simply skip step 2.
 
 .. note::
-   If you do care about the request status or need to get the return data, then at a later time you will need to call :meth:`~Client.aresp` with the AsyncRequest object returned in step 1.
-   Please refer to the documentation of :ref:`asynchronous request methods <async-methods-label>` for more details.
+   If you do care about the request status or need to get the return data, then at a later time you will need to call :meth:`~AsyncRequest.get_response` with the AsyncRequest object returned in step 1.
 
 For example, the following code first generates an asynchronous request to
 retrieve recommendations, then get the result at later time::
@@ -94,7 +105,7 @@
     >>>    <log the error>
 
 
-Batch Import Data
+Batch Import Data with EventClient
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
 When you import large amount of data at once, you may also use asynchronous
@@ -121,4 +132,12 @@
   >>>   except:
   >>>      <log the error>
 
+Batch Import Data with FileExporter and "pio import"
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
+.. versionadded:: 0.9.2
+
+You can use FileExporter to create events and write to a JSON file which can
+be used by "pio import". Pleas see `Importing Data in Batch <http://docs.prediction.io/datacollection/batchimport/>`_ for more details.
+
+Note that this method is much faster than batch import with EventClient.
diff --git a/examples/event_fileexport.py b/examples/event_fileexport.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0f86d71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/event_fileexport.py
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+import predictionio
+from datetime import datetime
+import pytz
+
+exporter = predictionio.FileExporter(file_name="test.json")
+
+first_event_properties = {
+    "prop1" : 1,
+    "prop2" : "value2",
+    "prop3" : [1, 2, 3],
+    "prop4" : True,
+    "prop5" : ["a", "b", "c"],
+    "prop6" : 4.56 ,
+    }
+first_event_time = datetime(
+    2004, 12, 13, 21, 39, 45, 618000, pytz.timezone('US/Mountain'))
+exporter.create_event(
+    event="my_event",
+    entity_type="user",
+    entity_id="uid",
+    properties=first_event_properties,
+    event_time=first_event_time,
+    )
+
+# Second event
+second_event_properties = {
+    "someProperty" : "value1",
+    "anotherProperty" : "value2",
+    }
+exporter.create_event(
+    event="my_event",
+    entity_type="user",
+    entity_id="uid",
+    target_entity_type="item",
+    target_entity_id="iid",
+    properties=second_event_properties,
+    event_time=datetime(2014, 12, 13, 21, 38, 45, 618000, pytz.utc))
+
+exporter.close()
diff --git a/examples/event_sample.py b/examples/event_sample.py
index 0a7a339..9c3fe25 100644
--- a/examples/event_sample.py
+++ b/examples/event_sample.py
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@
 print("Delete user")
 print(client.delete_user("foo"))
 
-# The SDK also support specifying the eventTime. It is useful for importing 
+# The SDK also support specifying the eventTime. It is useful for importing
 # events happened in the past.
 foo_time = datetime(2014, 8, 31, 4, 56, tzinfo=pytz.timezone('US/Pacific'))
 print("Create user at " + str(foo_time))
diff --git a/examples/event_sample_channel.py b/examples/event_sample_channel.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..125086a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/event_sample_channel.py
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+# this is example of import events to a specific channel of an App
+
+from predictionio import EventClient
+from predictionio import NotFoundError
+from datetime import datetime
+import pytz
+import sys
+
+access_key = None
+channel = None
+
+assert access_key is not None, "Please create an access key with 'pio app new'"
+# Need to create channel first before
+assert channel is not None, "Please create new channel with 'pio app channel-new'"
+
+client = EventClient(access_key=access_key, url="http://localhost:7070",
+  channel=channel)
+
+# Check status
+print("Check status")
+print(client.get_status())
+
+# First event
+first_event_properties = {
+    "prop1" : 1,
+    "prop2" : "value2",
+    "prop3" : [1, 2, 3],
+    "prop4" : True,
+    "prop5" : ["a", "b", "c"],
+    "prop6" : 4.56 ,
+    }
+first_event_time = datetime(
+    2004, 12, 13, 21, 39, 45, 618000, pytz.timezone('US/Mountain'))
+first_event_response = client.create_event(
+    event="my_event",
+    entity_type="user",
+    entity_id="uid",
+    properties=first_event_properties,
+    event_time=first_event_time,
+    )
+print("First Event response")
+print(first_event_response)
+print
+
+# Second event
+second_event_properties = {
+    "someProperty" : "value1",
+    "anotherProperty" : "value2",
+    }
+second_event_response = client.create_event(
+    event="my_event",
+    entity_type="user",
+    entity_id="uid",
+    target_entity_type="item",
+    target_entity_id="iid",
+    properties=second_event_properties,
+    event_time=datetime(2014, 12, 13, 21, 38, 45, 618000, pytz.utc))
+print("Second Event response")
+print(second_event_response)
+print
+
+
+# Get the first event from Event Server
+first_event_id = first_event_response.json_body["eventId"]
+print("Get Event")
+event = client.get_event(first_event_id)
+print(event)
+print
+
+# Delete the first event from Event Server
+print("Delete Event")
+delete_response = client.delete_event(first_event_id)
+print(delete_response)
+print
+
+# Delete the first event from Event Server again should yield exception.
+print("Delete Event Again")
+try:
+  delete_response = client.delete_event(first_event_id)
+except NotFoundError, ex:
+  print("The expected error: {0}".format(ex))
+print
diff --git a/predictionio/__init__.py b/predictionio/__init__.py
index 45a379f..8f40a4f 100644
--- a/predictionio/__init__.py
+++ b/predictionio/__init__.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 """
 
 
-__version__ = "0.8.3"
+__version__ = "0.9.2"
 
 # import deprecated libraries.
 from predictionio.obsolete import Client
@@ -18,6 +18,13 @@
   # pylint: disable=F0401
   # http is a Python3 module, replacing httplib
   from http import client as httplib
+
+try:
+  from urllib import urlencode
+except ImportError:
+  # pylint: disable=F0401,E0611
+  from urllib.parse import urlencode
+
 import json
 import urllib
 
@@ -165,11 +172,12 @@
   :param timeout: timeout for HTTP connection attempts and requests in
     seconds (optional).
     Default value is 5.
+  :param channel: channel name (optional)
   """
 
-  def __init__(self, access_key, 
+  def __init__(self, access_key,
       url="http://localhost:7070",
-      threads=1, qsize=0, timeout=5):
+      threads=1, qsize=0, timeout=5, channel=None):
     assert type(access_key) is str, ("access_key must be string. "
         "Notice that app_id has been deprecated in Prediction.IO 0.8.2. "
         "Please use access_key instead.")
@@ -183,6 +191,7 @@
           "you may use an earlier version of this sdk.")
 
     self.access_key = access_key
+    self.channel = channel
 
   def acreate_event(self, event, entity_type, entity_id,
       target_entity_type=None, target_entity_id=None, properties=None,
@@ -201,7 +210,7 @@
     :param target_entity_id: target entity id. type str.
     :param properties: a custom dict associated with an event. type dict.
     :param event_time: the time of the event. type datetime, must contain
-      timezone info. 
+      timezone info.
 
     :returns:
       AsyncRequest object. You can call the get_response() method using this
@@ -227,8 +236,16 @@
     # need to skip the last three digits.
     et_str = et.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%f")[:-3] + et.strftime("%z")
     data["eventTime"] = et_str
-    
-    path = "/events.json?accessKey=%s" % (self.access_key, )
+
+    qparam = {
+        "accessKey" : self.access_key
+        }
+
+    if self.channel is not None:
+      qparam["channel"] = self.channel
+
+    path = "/events.json?%s" % (urlencode(qparam), )
+
     request = AsyncRequest("POST", path, **data)
     request.set_rfunc(self._acreate_resp)
     self._connection.make_request(request)
@@ -239,7 +256,7 @@
       event_time=None):
     """Synchronously (blocking) create an event."""
     return self.acreate_event(event, entity_type, entity_id,
-        target_entity_type, target_entity_id, properties, 
+        target_entity_type, target_entity_id, properties,
         event_time).get_response()
 
   def aget_event(self, event_id):
@@ -249,11 +266,18 @@
       event.
 
     :returns:
-      AsyncRequest object. 
+      AsyncRequest object.
     """
+    qparam = {
+        "accessKey" : self.access_key
+        }
+
+    if self.channel is not None:
+      qparam["channel"] = self.channel
+
     enc_event_id = urllib.quote(event_id, "") # replace special char with %xx
-    path = "/events/%s.json" % enc_event_id
-    request = AsyncRequest("GET", path, accessKey=self.access_key)
+    path = "/events/%s.json" % (enc_event_id, )
+    request = AsyncRequest("GET", path, **qparam)
     request.set_rfunc(self._aget_resp)
     self._connection.make_request(request)
     return request
@@ -269,11 +293,18 @@
       event.
 
     :returns:
-      AsyncRequest object. 
+      AsyncRequest object.
     """
+    qparam = {
+        "accessKey" : self.access_key
+        }
+
+    if self.channel is not None:
+      qparam["channel"] = self.channel
+
     enc_event_id = urllib.quote(event_id, "") # replace special char with %xx
     path = "/events/%s.json" % (enc_event_id, )
-    request = AsyncRequest("DELETE", path, accessKey=self.access_key)
+    request = AsyncRequest("DELETE", path, **qparam)
     request.set_rfunc(self._adelete_resp)
     self._connection.make_request(request)
     return request
@@ -286,7 +317,7 @@
 
   def aset_user(self, uid, properties={}, event_time=None):
     """Set properties of a user.
-   
+
     Wrapper of acreate_event function, setting event to "$set" and entity_type
     to "user".
     """
@@ -304,7 +335,7 @@
 
   def aunset_user(self, uid, properties, event_time=None):
     """Unset properties of an user.
-   
+
     Wrapper of acreate_event function, setting event to "$unset" and entity_type
     to "user".
     """
@@ -323,7 +354,7 @@
 
   def adelete_user(self, uid, event_time=None):
     """Delete a user.
-   
+
     Wrapper of acreate_event function, setting event to "$delete" and entity_type
     to "user".
     """
@@ -339,7 +370,7 @@
 
   def aset_item(self, iid, properties={}, event_time=None):
     """Set properties of an item.
-   
+
     Wrapper of acreate_event function, setting event to "$set" and entity_type
     to "item".
     """
@@ -356,7 +387,7 @@
 
   def aunset_item(self, iid, properties={}, event_time=None):
     """Unset properties of an item.
-   
+
     Wrapper of acreate_event function, setting event to "$unset" and entity_type
     to "item".
     """
@@ -373,7 +404,7 @@
 
   def adelete_item(self, iid, event_time=None):
     """Delete an item.
-   
+
     Wrapper of acreate_event function, setting event to "$delete" and entity_type
     to "item".
     """
@@ -413,7 +444,7 @@
 class EngineClient(BaseClient):
   """Client for extracting prediction results from an PredictionIO Engine
   Instance.
-  
+
   :param url: the url of the PredictionIO Engine Instance.
   :param threads: number of threads to handle PredictionIO API requests.
           Must be >= 1.
@@ -424,7 +455,7 @@
   :param timeout: timeout for HTTP connection attempts and requests in
     seconds (optional).
     Default value is 5.
-  
+
   """
   def __init__(self, url="http://localhost:8000", threads=1,
       qsize=0, timeout=5):
@@ -435,7 +466,7 @@
     query.
 
     :param data: the query: It is coverted to an json object using json.dumps
-      method. type dict. 
+      method. type dict.
 
     :returns:
       AsyncRequest object. You can call the get_response() method using this
@@ -449,10 +480,60 @@
 
   def send_query(self, data):
     """Synchronously send a request.
-    
+
     :param data: the query: It is coverted to an json object using json.dumps
-      method. type dict. 
+      method. type dict.
 
     :returns: the prediction.
     """
     return self.asend_query(data).get_response()
+
+class FileExporter(object):
+  """File exporter to write events to JSON file for batch import
+
+  :param file_name: the destination file name
+  """
+  def __init__(self, file_name):
+    """Constructor of Exporter.
+
+    """
+    self._file = open(file_name, 'w')
+
+  def create_event(self, event, entity_type, entity_id,
+      target_entity_type=None, target_entity_id=None, properties=None,
+      event_time=None):
+    """Create an event and write to the file.
+
+    (please refer to EventClient's create_event())
+
+    """
+    data = {
+        "event": event,
+        "entityType": entity_type,
+        "entityId": entity_id,
+        }
+
+    if target_entity_type is not None:
+      data["targetEntityType"] = target_entity_type
+
+    if target_entity_id is not None:
+      data["targetEntityId"] = target_entity_id
+
+    if properties is not None:
+      data["properties"] = properties
+
+    et = event_time_validation(event_time)
+    # EventServer uses milliseconds, but python datetime class uses micro. Hence
+    # need to skip the last three digits.
+    et_str = et.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%f")[:-3] + et.strftime("%z")
+    data["eventTime"] = et_str
+
+    j = json.dumps(data)
+    self._file.write(j+"\n")
+
+  def close(self):
+    """Close the FileExporter
+
+    Call this method when you finish writing all events to JSON file
+    """
+    self._file.close()
diff --git a/predictionio/connection.py b/predictionio/connection.py
index 9609047..04fe7b5 100644
--- a/predictionio/connection.py
+++ b/predictionio/connection.py
@@ -152,8 +152,8 @@
     self.body = body
     # Try to extract the json.
     try:
-      self.json_body = json.loads(body)
-    except ValueError, ex:
+      self.json_body = json.loads(body.decode('utf8'))
+    except ValueError as ex:
       self.json_body = None
 
   def set_error(self, error):
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 24bfc03..15163d1 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name='PredictionIO',
-    version="0.8.3",
+    version="0.9.2",
     author=__author__,
     author_email=__email__,
     packages=['predictionio'],